Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) announced it launched a "Web" section on its X1 video platform featuring short-form video content from 30 broadcast and cable networks. The move is part of Comcast's continued efforts to aggressively look for ways to reclaim TV audience share that is migrating to online video platforms like YouTube.
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Comcast's new content will be featured in the online video section of Xfinity On Demand, under the heading "Web." |
Starting today, Comcast said it will make a selection of on-demand, short-form content available on X1 from programmers including: A&E, ABC News, AMC, American Heroes, Animal Planet, BBC America, Big Ten Networks, CNBC, Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Life, DIY, E!, ESPN, Esquire Network, Food Network, Fox Business, Fox News, Fox Sports, FYI, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, LMN, MSNBC, Music Choice, NBC, NBC News, OWN, Science Channel, Sundance TV, TLC, Travel Channel, Velocity and WE TV.
This programming will be delivered over the Internet to X1 and featured in the online video section of Xfinity On Demand, under the heading "Web." The programming is also viewable online via Xfinity.com.
"The average person is also spending nearly an hour viewing online video every day. Yet the vast majority of online video has not been accessible on traditional TV platforms, and we're focused on changing that with X1," said Matt Strauss, executive VP and GM of video services for Comcast Cable.
The move follows just two weeks after Comcast debuted Watchable, an unauthenticated online video platform aimed squarely at younger audiences. Watchable features short-form, YouTube-type content from a variety of online video content suppliers like AwesomenessTV, Buzzfeed, CelebTV, Collective Digital Studio, Defy Media and others.
The addition of the "Web" category to Comcast's X1 seems to be aimed at stopping the erosion of the company's more traditional audience base. In April, during Comcast's first-quarter earnings report, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said that as much as 70 percent of the viewership for NBC's Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon occurs via viewed online clips and is not being counted and monetized.
Meantime, Strauss said that while 70 percent of Xfinity TV users regularly access on-demand platforms, the metric jumps to 85 percent for X1 customers.
And as on-demand viewing through Xfinity On Demand has increased, Comcast has simultaneously developed its dynamic ad insertion (DAI) capabilities for programming viewed beyond Nielsen's "C7" commercial ratings window.
For more:
- read this Comcast blog post
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